A muddy mess

Roman Friedman, who lives on Long Drive in Sunridge digs out his air conditioner on Monday after it was buried in nearly five feet of sand that washed down the hillside behind his home during Sunday's severe thunderstorm,

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Carson City Manager Nick Marano says the city itself escaped major damage from heavy rains Sunday but that numerous residents — especially those along the capital’s southern boundary — suffered serious damage to their landscaping.

He said that, if that storm had centered over the city, damage could have been much more extensive.

Public Works Manager Darren Schulz said the epicenter of the downpour was near Rabe Way and Center Drive. He said in that area, more than three feet of sediment and debris was left on some streets. The city, he said, didn’t suffer major infrastructure damage, that the roads and streets may be covered with mud but remain intact.

But he said other than landscaping, homes in the area escaped flooding inside.

“There were a lot of people impacted,” Schulz said. “There were a number of garages dealing with some water and mud but I don’t know of any homes where it actually got into the home.”

“For the vast majority, it ripped through their yards, tore out all their landscaping,” he said.

But he said Monday morning, people were out dealing with the damage to their yards all through the south end of town with everything from shovels to bobcats.

He said there also was some minor damage on the west side and the southwest side of Clearview, which had some rocks and sediment, washed into yards and streets.

“Because the rain was so intense over a period of time, nothing’s going to hold as far as ground cover,” Schulz said.

He said his crews were out in the area around Center Sunday afternoon through Monday loading the debris and sediment into trucks and hauling it away.

But he said the city has a good use for all that sediment — top cover for the city landfill to cover garbage.

Fire Chief Stacey Giomi said while his people helped public works where they could, Sunday was “relatively quiet for us.”

He said his crews were much busier Saturday when lightning started five brush fires.

He said until it gets hot again, the rains will help keep the fires down, but that another heat wave is on the way.

“The rain would have been better if spread out over a couple of days as opposed to an inch in an hour,” he said.

NVEnergy spokesman Karl Walquist said Carson City fared better than other parts of western Nevada. The biggest outage in the capital, he said, was 28 customers along Fall Street who were out from 2:30 p.m. until about 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Douglas County and the Tahoe Basin had much more extensive outages.

In the central and western Carson Valley, he said 6,800 customers were without power along with 9,800 on the east side of the valley. Power was restored in by 2:35 a.m.

At Tahoe, Walquist said 5,300 customers from Glenbrook south to Stateline were without power until about 10 p.m. The flooding also was worse in the Carson Valley.

“Public Works is concentrating on the significant drainage structures that were damaged or need reinforcement,” Douglas County Emergency Manager Tod Carlini said Monday morning. “They are taking care of those areas and then working backwards to those at a lower priority.”

Carlini, who is also East Fork Fire & Paramedic Districts Chief, said county emergency dispatchers handled 189 calls between 2:30 and 6 p.m. Sunday.

“In some way, shape or form, whether the fire district, or the sheriff’s office, or search and rescue, resources were sent out to deal with the calls.”

No one was injured in the flooding, and no homes were lost, though property in Indian Hills, Johnson Lane and Fish Springs suffered flood damage.

“There was some sheet flooding in some areas that came across people’s property,” he said. “That’s where we’ll see the most significant private property damage.”

Carlini said four structures were hit by lightning on Sunday, including one at Jobs Peak Ranch that started a small fire. That fire was extinguished by Sheridan Acres firefighters.